More Ghost Story Stuff for the Contest

There's another Halloween Contest going on over at Katie's blog. Katie is a published author who loves to sew but you'll need to check her guidelines. Go check it out!

My contest (leave your story or comment on this post ) is open to everyone, and yes that means you international readers. Remember you can win a passport purse, or a back pack made in your choice of colors!




















Also!! You don't need to have a blog to comment. Just leave your name and if you win, look for your name on Sunday. You can then email me with your address. Please understand that I'm not a stalker and even if you give me your address I most likely could never find you as I have no sense of direction!!!




Comments will be accepted until Saturday, October 10 at midnight (EST in the US). I will publish the winner on Sunday.

Thank you everyone for your stories. I'm finding mine to be pretty tame compared to yours.




So now I'm going to take this opportunity to relate a couple more stories that I've been told over the years.

When my mother was around ten or so, she was visiting her grandmother's house. Mom had gone upstairs and was startled to find an old woman sitting at her grandmother's vanity brushing her long white hair. She was wearing a high collared black dress that went all the way to the floor and my mother was puzzled because this was something that ladies in the 1940's didn't wear. She also wondered why the heck this lady was in her grandmother's bedroom. Suddenly the woman realized my mother was watching her because she turned in her seat and glared at her.


And then she disappeared.

Mom ran down to the kitchen and asked her grandmother who this woman was.

Grandma just stood there with a funny look on her face. She didn't say anything for a moment and before turning away she told my mother to forget it. Mom says from the way her grandmother reacted she thinks that she too had seen this old woman, or at least knew who it was, because otherwise she would have laughed at her or told her it was nonsense.

This is very much like a story I heard just a couple of weeks ago. I was at a party and I was talking to a woman who told me about her father who died unexpectedly a few years ago. Shortly after he died she walked into her own family room only to see her dad sitting in his favorite chair and watching TV. She called out "Dad!" and he actually turned, looked at her, and then disappeared. This happened more than once. But she was still having a hard time with his death and cried a lot. And then one day during a crying jag she felt something beside her and looked up. There was her father right beside her and he was shaking his head and frowning. She said "I knew that look and he was unhappy with me." And once again he disappeared. That's when she decided that it was time to move on and she never saw him again.

I told her about my run in with the religious lady at the inn, and Karen who's devoutly religious, remarked, "What the hell does that have to do with it? She must be a nut!"


Thank you very much!

Anymore ghost stories out there??? C'mon, I'm sure there are! And you have until Saturday night to leave a comment!!!!

Do you believe in ghosts? Yes or no, win a purse.

I've never had a contest nor have I given anything away on my blog because I really didn't think anyone would want anything I make. But since not all of my readers are sewists, and not all of my sewing readers like to make purses, I'm going to give it a shot.

And who doesn't like something for free. Well almost free, because I have a task for you.

Read on.

I love a good ghost story which is probably why Halloween is my favorite holiday of all. That and getting dressed up in costume, drinking apple cider (hard or otherwise), enjoying the colors of fall... I could go on ad nauseum but I'll stop here.

I, for one, like to keep an open mind about the spirit world, but until a ghost jumps up and bites Hans the scientist, on the butt, he says they don't exist. Period.

So anyway back in 1999 I had a run in with something (that until someone can prove otherwise) I will call a ghost.

It was December and I was waitressing at the inn. I've mentioned in the past that December is a hellishly busy month at the inn due to Christmas parties etc... and the day of my run in with Miss Ghost, I worked a double shift.

I finished serving lunch and headed down to the ladies room in the dinner theater area of the inn to fix my makeup (waitressing is a sweaty job). At this point the only other person in the whole downstairs was one of the waiters, and he was in the dining room.

The ladies room has a double sink area directly in front of four stalls. If you stand at the sink you cannot touch the stall doors even if you lean. Bear with me, this is important.

As I was fixing my makeup, the stall door directly behind me started to open.

Okay, apparently I wasn't alone in the bathroom. No big deal.

Except the door opened up fully, and from my vantage point at the mirror, I could see that there was no one there.

Also understand that these are heavy wooden doors and there is a big steel spring on the inside that keeps the doors closed when not in use. So after I watched the door open up, I watched it slam and eventually bounce closed.

That's when I turned around.

Okay, who the hell was playing a joke on me.

"Hello?" I called out.

No answer.

So I walked over and opened the door. Of course no one was in there, nor was anyone in the other three stalls, because I opened those doors too.

That's when I stalked out of the bathroom and went to fetch Mike, the waiter, from the dining room.

Mike was a college kid and I used my Mom voice on him so he didn't argue when I demanded he come into the bathroom with me.

He patiently listened to my story and agreed that no way could I have bumped the stall door while standing at the sink.

He agreed that the window was shut and a draft could not have caused the door to open.

And since we're not prone to earthquakes, the only explanation was that I'd had a run in with the legendary inn ghost.

There've been many recorded sightings of the ghost over the years but I certainly didn't think I'd end up having one of them.

And while I found the encounter puzzling, I was never really frightened which is shocking because I'm a chicken shit at heart, I really am!

I've told this story countless times to guests over the years, and for the most part it's been favorably received. I've even had demands for more stories.

Except for one woman. Her thin lips disappeared and her nostrils swelled. "I'm a Christian!" she announced haughtily. "And I don't believe in ghosts!" I wanted to ask her if she'd ever heard of the holy ghost, but I didn't dare!

This sighting happened the first year I worked there and unfortunately I never experienced another one.

So here goes. Because I love me a ghost story I want to hear yours. You can even just leave a comment as to whether you believe in ghosts or not. Or maybe you think I'm crazy (but understand your chances of winning might greatly diminish if you feel the need to tell me so!)

In a week I'll make a random drawing. Whoever wins will get a custom made purse created by me (what the heck, it's free!). I think either a passport purse (you don't need a passport to use it!) Or a back pack. I'll even let you pick your own colors!

I will be out of Internet range until Tuesday so I hope when I get back I have some fun and spooky stories to read!